Page One - The Writer's Podcast

Charles Stross is a full-time science fiction writer and resident of Edinburgh, Scotland. The author of six Hugo-nominated novels and winner of the 2005, 2010, and 2014 Hugo awards for best novella, he has won numerous other awards and been translated into at least 12 other languages. His award-winning series include the long-running Merchant Princes series and The Laundry Files. His latest book, Season of Skulls, is out in May 2023.It was amazing to be able to chat with Charlie, a real legend of the SF scene. He told us how it took a little time to make the move from short stories to novels, and how initially his cross-genre storytelling received some resistance - until he won a Hugo Award for it! Since then, he has been prolific, and we chat to hiim about how he comes up with his stories, and how he plans (or doesn't) his long-running series.Links:Buy Charlie's books nowVisit Charlie's websiteFollow Charlie on mastodonPage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ukpageone/Follow us on Mastodon: https://writing.exchange/@PageOnePod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sunday Times Bestselling author Anne O’Brien was born in West Yorkshire. After gaining a BA Honours degree in History at Manchester University and a Master’s in Education at Hull, she lived in East Yorkshire for many years as a teacher of history. Today she has sold over a million copies of her books in the UK and internationally. She lives with her husband in an eighteenth-century timber-framed cottage in the depths of the Welsh Marches in Herefordshire. The area provides endless inspiration for her novels about the forgotten women of medieval history. Anne's new book, A Marriage of Fortune, is the sequel to The Royal Game, the exciting story of the women of the famous letter-writing Paston family.We had a really interesting chat with Anne about what sort of research she does for her novels, and hear her talk about why historical accuracy is so important for her when writing. We also learn how she finds and picks the women who will be the focal point of her novels, and the careful process she goes through to bring them to life.Links:Buy A Marriage of Fortune and Anne's other novelsVisit Anne's websiteFollow Anne on TwitterPage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ukpageone/Follow us on Mastodon: https://writing.exchange/@PageOnePod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ayisha Malik is a British writer, whose debut novel Sofia Khan is Not Obliged was released in 2015. She went on to write a sequel - The Other Half of Happiness - in 2017. Both books tackle the topic of dating as a young Muslim woman and were very well received. As well as writing, Ayisha has a wealth of experience on the opposite side of the typewriter, working as a publicist for Penguin Random House and as a literary consultant for Cornerstones. Her latest novel is The Movement, which follows the life of a young woman who decides to stop talking, and the global impact that spirals from her fateful decision. Ayisha was a fantastic guest, who has so much helpful advice to share with listeners. It’s always great to chat with people who have industry experience and can assist us all with tackling that age-old question: what are publishers looking for? Plus, she answers the age-old question - which of our previous podcasts guests, Abir Muhkerjee or Vaseem Khan, will she pick?Links:Buy Ayisha's books nowFollow Ayisha on TwitterPage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ukpageone/Follow us on Mastodon: https://writing.exchange/@PageOnePod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sarah Lee has been a journalist and editor for the past twenty-five years, working across news and features and writing for regional and national newspapers, as well as commissioning for women’s true-life magazines. More recently she has focused her attention on the world of travel, creating luxury blog LiveShareTravel, and working with destinations and brands worldwide on storytelling marketing campaigns and conferences through her company, Captivate. Her debut novel, An Ocean Apart, came out last year to great acclaim.We had a great chat with Sarah, talking about how she got into journalism, and how the skills she learned there helped her to write her first novel. Plus, we talk about why she wrote An Ocean Apart, and talk about whether fiction is sometimes a better medium for teaching than history books.Links:Buy An Ocean ApartFollow Sarah on TwitterVisit her travel blog, LiveShareTravelPage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ukpageone/Follow us on Mastodon: https://writing.exchange/@PageOnePod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ian Green is a fantasy writer born in Aberdeen, Scotland. He is the author of The Rotstorm epic fantasy series published by the Ad Astra imprint of Head Of Zeus beginning 2021 with The Gauntlet and the Fist Beneath. Its sequel, The Gauntlet and the Burning Blade, came out in 2022, and the final part of the trilogy will be released in August 2023. Ian has a PhD in clinical epigenetics, and his short fiction has been widely broadcast and performed including winning the BBC Radio 4 Opening Lines competition and winning the Futurebook Future Fiction prize. We had great fun chatting with Ian and hearing about he spent years working on short stories and literary fiction, only to find that it was when he wrote a story he wanted to write, rather than aiming for the market, that he found an agent and publishing deal. We also talk about worldbuilding, grimdark fantasy and much more!Links:Buy Ian's booksVisit Ian's websiteFollow Ian on Twitter:Page One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ukpageone/Follow us on Mastodon: https://writing.exchange/@PageOnePod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ryan Cahill is the hugely successful self-published author of the Bound and the Broken series, starting with Of Blood and Fire and most recently releasing Of War and Ruin, which was so popular that The Broken Binding website was broken because so many people were trying to buy it!We had a really fun and fascinating chat with Ryan about all things self-publishing, including why he chose that route over traditional publishing, how he built his list of readers and hearing how detailed each step in the process is. If you are thinking about self-publishing, this is not an episode you want to miss!Links:Buy The Bound and Broken series on Amazon (or read on Kindle Unlimited)Buy The Bound and Broken series at The Broken BindingVisit Ryan's websiteFollow Ryan on TwitterPage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ukpageone/Follow us on Mastodon: https://writing.exchange/@PageOnePod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sunday Times bestselling author ​Louise Candlish is the author of 16 novels, including her brand-new thriller The Only Suspect, set in 1995 and described by the Daily Mail as 'a perfect mix of nostalgia and menace'. It is published in hardback, ebook and audio in February 2023. Louise's #1 bestseller Our House won the British Book Awards 2019 Crime & Thriller Book of the Year and is now a smash-hit 4-part ITV drama starring Martin Compston, Tuppence Middleton and Rupert Penry-Jones (view the full series on ITVX). International bestseller The Other Passenger, a noir tale of adultery and double crossing set among the Thames river commuters, was Louise's first Richard & Judy Book Club pick and was longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2021. It is now in development for the screen.We had a great chat with Louise, finding out how she manages to be quite so prolific with her output, how older crime novels can help with ideas and why she enlists her husband's help when researching. Plus we talk about how mobile phones and the internet ruined so many potential crime stories and whether getting a huge advance as a debut author is necessarily a good thing.Links:Buy Louise's books on AmazonVisit Louise's websiteFollow Louise on TwitterPage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ukpageone/Follow us on Mastodon: https://writing.exchange/@PageOnePod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jane Harper is the author of bestsellers The Dry, Force of Nature, The Lost Man, The Survivors and now, Exiles. Her books are published in 40 territories worldwide, with more than 3.5 million copies sold to date. Jane has won numerous awards for writing, including the CWA Gold Dagger Award for Best Crime Novel, the British Book Awards Crime and Thriller Book of the Year, the Australian Book Industry Awards Book of the Year and the Australian Indie Awards Book of the Year. The major motion picture adaptation of The Dry, starring Eric Bana as Aaron Falk, took more than $20.5m at the Australian box office ahead of release dates overseas.We loved chatting with Jane and hearing how she put off writing fiction for years and how winning an unpublished manuscript competition suddenly opened the doors to publishing. We also talked about Australia as a setting for crime novels, discuss whether planners and pantsers are in fact pretty much the same, and chat about why the execution of the writing is far more important than the idea for the story.Links:Buy Exiles and Jane's other books nowFollow Jane on TwitterVisit Jane's websitePage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ukpageone/Follow us on Mastodon: https://writing.exchange/@PageOnePod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elle Connel is the pseudonym of Lucy Ribchester, whose previous novels, The Hourglass Factory and The Amber Shadows, were historical thrillers. Her previous work has won her a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award, a Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship, and short-listings for the Costa Short Story Award and Manchester Fiction Prize. Down by the Water was her first book as Elle Connel and her latest is You Can Stay.We had a really interesting chat with Lucy all about how she found an agent, only to then take the scary step of changing agent before her debut came out. We also talked about writing historical crime thrillers vs modern day thrillers, and why she uses a pseudonym for her contemporary books (and how she chose the name).Links:Buy Lucy's booksBuy Elle's booksPage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ukpageone/Follow us on Mastodon: https://writing.exchange/@PageOnePod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tom Hindle is the exciting new voice on the murder mystery scene, where his debut novel, A Fatal Crossing was a huge hit when it came out in 2022. His new novel, The Murder Game, is out in February 2023.We had great fun chatting to Tom and hearing how he swapped music ambitions for writing ones, hear why he once thought A Fatal Crossing would be easy to stage as a play, and . We also talked about the enduring appeal of murder mysteries, discussed whether red herrings are good or bad things and heard about how much planning goes into these stories.Links:Buy Tom's booksFollow Tom on TwitterPage One - The Writer's Podcast is brought to you by Write Gear, creators of Page One - the Writer's Notebook. Learn more and order yours now: https://www.writegear.co.uk/page-oneFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ukPageOneFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ukpageone/Follow us on Mastodon: https://writing.exchange/@PageOnePod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.